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Brief Synopsis

On the bus ride home from college, Freckles Winslow meets gangster Jack Leach, who is looking for a place in which to hide from the law. Freckles' glowing description of Fairfield, his quiet home town, prompts Jack to take up residence in the hotel run by Freckles' friend, Danny. Danny has urgently called Freckles home because he was tricked into buying a gold divining device and then used the hotel mortgage payment to buy property he thought contained gold. Danny conceives a plan to make up his loss and bring prosperity to Fairfield by diverting the main highway through his land and selling the lots as an investment. In order to accomplish this, however, he needs the two feuding road commissioners, Freckles' father and Mr. Potter, to authorize the highway development. Jack's gangster friend, Quigley, comes to Fairfield and feigns interest in funding the development. Meanwhile, Danny's hotel clerk, Jeff, tries to pawn off the gold divining machine on Roxbury, the gangster's chauffeur. The community supports the highway project, but when Jack is found dead in his room, even befuddled constable Weaver knows something has gone awry. Freckles raises suspicions about Quigley's background, but no one believes the young man, even Mr. Potter's daughter, Jane, Freckles' childhood friend, with whom he has fallen in love. Two of Jack's thugs then appear in town, pretending to be FBI agents, and Weaver and Potter are convinced of their authenticity. After they distract Weaver and Potter, the thugs and Quigley break into the bank. Freckles and Danny sabotage the gangsters' car, but the thugs kill Quigley and take Freckles and Jeff hostage while they escape in their car. When the car crashes, however, Weaver arrests the criminals. Potter is impressed by the boys's heroics and makes peace with Freckles' father. After the men sign off on the highway construction, and Danny pays his hotel mortgage with the reward money for the capture of the criminals, Freckles becomes a hero in Jane's eyes.